The Bibliographical Society welcomes bequests to support its work to promote the study of and research in historical, analytical, descriptive and textual bibliography. The Society receives no support from public funds; legacy gifts and charitable donations will secure the future of the Society and enhance its activities.
Since the Society’s founding in 1892, its scope has widened to include the making and use of manuscripts, the history of printing, publishing and illustration, the study of bookbinding, and the history of the book, as well as the history of libraries and the study of provenance, readership and book collecting.
Members’ interests extend to every part of the world and to all periods. Historians, students of literature, humanities scholars in all fields, librarians and all book-lovers, amateurs and professionals, benefit from the Society’s activities. The Society has an active lecture programme and publishes monographs and its quarterly journal The Library, in print and online. Every year, through its Fellowships and Bursaries scheme, it supports bibliographical research undertaken by scholars at all stages of their careers.
The Bibliographical Society is a Registered Charity (no. 229524) and bequests normally attract inheritance tax benefits. Bequests to the Society can be made in your will by including its name and registered charity number, and they may take the form of: a specified sum of money; the residue of your estate; a percentage of the residue of your estate.
Bequests of any size are welcome. Should you wish to support a specific aspect of our work, your instructions will, of course, be honoured. If you prefer not to specify how the bequest should be used, the Society will make use of it where it is most needed. In all cases, when making a will and considering a legacy, it is advisable to contact a solicitor to make sure that the terms and provisions of your will clearly and accurately express your wishes.
Further information can be obtained by contacting the Hon. Treasurer at treasurer@bibsoc.org.uk.
The Bibliographical Society very much hopes that its members and friends will consider supporting the Society in this way. Its Council will make sure that any bequests received will be suitably acknowledged and, acting on the donor’s preferences, put to the best possible use to promote the Society’s work.